


A century of lonely nights

by sarahcakes613



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Djinni & Genies, Frottage, M/M, Mike Dodds cameo, Pirates, Wishes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-28
Updated: 2020-10-28
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:15:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27237895
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sarahcakes613/pseuds/sarahcakes613
Summary: Sonny is marooned by his fellow pirates and finds a genie in a lamp. He promises to use his third wish to release Rafael.
Relationships: Rafael Barba/Dominick "Sonny" Carisi Jr.
Comments: 15
Kudos: 57
Collections: Barisi Creatures Bingo





	A century of lonely nights

The artefact comes in, as these things so often do, with the tide.

Sonny Carisi is at the water’s edge, watching mournfully as the pirate ship sails away, carrying his crewmates and his share of their recent booty with it.

Marooned on a spit of land by his own captain. He kicks at the water in disgust. This is the third crew he’s been kicked off of and he’s starting to think that maybe the pirate’s life isn’t really for him.

He goes to kick the water again and instead hears a splashing clank as his foot hits something embedded in the sand.

He kneels on the shore and feels carefully with his hands, moving slowly in case whatever he’s hit has surprise pointy bits. His hands run over a rounded metallic shape, and his fingers curl around a handle of some kind. He tugs at it, and the sediment gives easier than he had expected, resulting in him falling back on his ass with his new treasure in hand.

It’s an old-fashioned bronze oil lamp, curvy and small enough to fit in a traveller’s bag. It’s deep reddish-brown in spots, but time in the water has painted a green patina overtop most of it. There is a plug on the top, where the oil would be poured in, and the mouth is clogged with silt.

Sonny brushes as much silt as possible out with his pinky finger, tilting the lamp to try and pour out any water. He shakes it lightly but doesn’t hear anything, no sloshing of liquid. Not that it would matter were there oil, he thinks, being as he’s been left with no means of lighting a wick.

The only things he has are a small machete and his wits, and Mama Carisi may have unintentionally raised a pirate, but she didn’t raise a fool. He’ll get out of here, one way or another.

The lamp may not work as a source of light after dark, but he might be able to use it for carrying water with him if he decides to explore inland, and Sonny carefully pries out the plug, which releases with a _pop_.

Sonny stares in amazement as something begins trickling out of the top of the lamp, wisps at first, that coalesce into the shape of a man hovering a few inches over the water. He’s dressed in a pair of linen trousers, baggy around his legs but tapering to cuffs at his ankles, and an open vest. His wrists bear a matching set of gleaming metal bracelets but he wears no other ornamentation.

The man – Sonny’s not sure what he really is – bows from the waist and then says, “how may I serve you, master?”

Sonny’s mouth hangs open. “Uh?” He croaks, because he can’t think of anything more coherent to say.

“Oh, do I need to do the whole spiel?” He asks, head tilted as he takes in Sonny’s confused appearance. “Very well then.” The man settles down, his feet appearing to stand on the ground, although Sonny’s not sure if he’s actually standing or still hovering.

“In releasing me from my bronzed chamber you have hereby and forthwith been granted a boon of three wishes. For so long as you have wishes remaining, I exist to fulfill those wishes. Terms and conditions may apply.” He recites this all in a bored tone, a faint expression of condescension on his face.

Sonny looks at him, taking in the wisps that still trail from his feet, the bracelets – cuffs, really – around his wrists.

“You’re a genie,” he says, awe-struck.

The genie rolls his eyes. “No kidding.”

Sonny is becoming painfully aware of how cold it is to sit in the surf, and he hoists himself up and onto dry land away from the water. The genie follows him.

“I have questions,” Sonny states. The genie rolls his eyes again, but Sonny ignores him. “What can’t I wish for? How specific do they have to be? How long have you been in there waiting for someone to find you? Why can’t you leave?”

The genie ticks his fingers as he answers. “No asking for more wishes, you can be as vague or specific as you want as long as you remember that we genies are a capricious lot.” He smirks at Sonny. “Give us wiggle room and you might not like what you get. I don’t know how long I’ve been in the lamp; time moves differently for us. I’d guess a century of your years. I am unable to leave due to the curse that keeps me bound to the lamp. There is only one way for me to be free, and it will never happen.”

“What is it?” Sonny asks curiously.

The genie holds up his wrists, letting the sun gleam down on his cuffs. “My master has to wish for it to be so.” His smile is pointed and bitter. “And that will never happen.”

Sonny’s mouth speaks before he can think. “I’ll do it.”

The genie blinks and then laughs. “Yeah, sure.”

“No, really.” Sonny insists. “I only have two things I really want, and I get three wishes, right? So once you fill my two wishes, I’ll do it.”

The genie considers him and then shrugs. “It’s not like I can hold you to your word, but sure.”

“Do I need to wish for them right now?” Sonny asks. He’s had an exhausting day of fighting and then being marooned, and he’d kind of just like to go to sleep for a bit.

The genie shakes his head. “I’m on your schedule now, master.”

Sonny winces. “And, this isn’t a wish, but could you not call me that? I mean do you have to? Or can you just call me by my name, Sonny? Do you have a name?”

“My name is Rafael,” the genie says. “And as long as you retain control over me, yes, when I address you, I must call you master. Unless you wish it otherwise. People generally don’t.”

Sonny doesn’t want to waste a wish on it, but it feels weird to hear another grown man – genie, whatever – calling him master. At least it won’t be for very long. He’ll have his rest, make his wishes, and then set Rafael free.

“I’m going to have a nap,” he declares, lying down in the sand and closing his eyes.

As tired as Sonny is, sleep eludes him. He opens one eye and looks at Rafael, who is sitting cross-legged and straight-backed next to him.

“A century, huh?” Sonny murmurs. Rafael looks down at him with dark hooded eyes. “Does the world seem different? I mean, I guess islands don’t change much, but my clothing, or ships, they must be different.”

Rafael skims his eyes down Sonny’s body, looking at his ragged linen shirt and breeches. “I suppose, yes. The wind smells different, too. There is more creosote in the air.”

“Yeah, charcoal’s big these days,” Sonny says. “And gunpowder. Lots of pungent stuff getting into the clouds.”

He turns on his side to face the genie. “What about you? Do genies always take the same form? Is this what you looked like when you were first created? Born? Are genies born?”

“We are made,” Rafael says stiffly. “By magicians and wizards. My form was chosen by my maker millennia ago as one that was most pleasing to her.”

Sonny scans Rafael. His dark hair is thick and curls beneath his ears, his skin glows faintly like burnished copper. He’s got a curve to his body that looks soft, but probably hides unknowable strength.

“So, no baby genies, huh?” Sonny asks.

Rafael shakes his head. “No, we do not procreate.”

“Does that mean you don’t have sex, either?” Sonny can’t help but ask.

“We can.” Rafael says, carefully, and Sonny’s eyes widen.

“No, no, I don’t mean – I’m not, that would be, no!” Sonny blurts out when he realizes that Rafael has interpreted his question wrong.

Rafael doesn’t say anything but some of the tension releases from his shoulders.

“But if you can,” Sonny says, “that means you haven’t gotten laid in like, a hundred years.”

“Yes,” Rafael says dryly. “Trust me, I’ve noticed.”

Sonny’s eyes cut down to Rafael’s crotch and then away, his cheeks flushing pink.

“Is that – I mean, is it uncomfortable? We could fix that. If you want to.” Sonny adds hurriedly, wanting to make sure Rafael doesn’t feel compelled to lay with him by the magic.

Rafael looks at Sonny. His eyes seem to glitter like polished green stone and they twinkle with amusement at Sonny’s flustered expression.

“What did you have in mind?” He asks, and Sonny shrugs.

“I don’t know, it’s not like I’ve ever been with a genie. What do you like?”

Rafael squints at him as if he’s trying to figure out Sonny’s game. Sonny feels bad that he probably hasn’t been asked that before.

“I enjoy the feel of another person against me,” Rafael says slowly, feeling out Sonny’s interest. “We are not traditionally able to be very tactile, and it is a unique pleasure to use my sense of touch.”

“Oh, that’s. Yeah, we could do that.” Sonny wriggles closer to Rafael. “You should lie down too, we can cuddle.”

Rafael lies down next to Sonny, on his back facing the sky. Sonny tentatively places his hand on Rafael’s bare stomach, shifting closer so their bodies are touching from chest to hip. Rafael is stiff but slowly Sonny can feel the muscles in his stomach relax and he shifts onto his side as well, facing the erstwhile pirate.

When he turns, Sonny’s hand falls from his stomach and lands on his upper thigh. It rests there for a moment before Sonny gently runs his hand along Rafael’s leg and then drifts down to his crotch. Rafael is hard, and Sonny cups his hand over the genie’s cock over the fabric, rubbing up and down the shaft.

Rafael’s lips are parted but his breathing does not labour as he watches Sonny’s hand move. He places his own hand on Sonny’s thigh, and even through the damp fabric, his hand is a hot brand on Sonny’s skin.

He moves his hand up to Sonny’s hip and then around to his back, stroking the skin just above his waistband. His hand drifts down to his ass, but he doesn’t grope it so much as use it as a handle to pull Sonny closer to him, so their hips and groins press together.

Sonny gasps, every point of contact with Rafael feeling like a drop of sizzling oil burning into his veins. He bucks his hips, and Rafael rolls his sinuously in response. Despite the two layers of cloth, Sonny can feel Rafael’s shaft pressed against his, can feel the tip of his cock nudging against the crevice of Sonny’s thigh.

The grind together, Sonny gasping his breaths and Rafael’s breath steady but shallow. For someone who has been waiting a century, his stamina is remarkably intact, and Sonny is pretty sure he’s going to be the one to break first.

He clutches a hand in Rafael’s curls, burying his face in Rafael’s neck. His sweat tastes like exotic spices, like cinnamon and cumin, and Sonny’s tongue drags along his skin, lapping at it lightly.

Sonny can feel his own thrusts getting more frantic and he does break, coming in his pants with a low groan. The added sticky dampness is unpleasant, but Rafael is still grinding against him, circling his hips and pushing into Sonny.

When Rafael comes, he is nearly silent but for a single gusting exhalation of breath, and his skin takes on even more of a burnished glow, becoming almost luminescent and outshining the stars in the sky.

Sonny falls back, heaving deep breaths as he comes down from the high of orgasm. Rafael looks down at the growing wet spot in his own pants and waves his hand over it, vanishing it. He looks over at Sonny and repeats the gesture, and Sonny starts as his pants suddenly feel dry and free of any residual stickiness.

“Thanks,” he mumbles, his hand flopping over to pat Rafael amiably on a shoulder. He feels comfortably relaxed now and though he doesn’t mean to, he falls into a light doze.

When he wakes up, the events of the past day come back to him in a rush and he jumps up, looking around to see where Rafael is. He’s standing at the water’s edge, watching the horizon with a melancholy expression which he blinks away when Sonny comes to stand next to him.

“What will you do?” Sonny asks.

Rafael doesn’t ask what he means, just glances at Sonny and then back to the horizon.

“Travel, maybe.” Rafael says. “I don’t know. I’ve never really given it much thought.”

“Liar,” Sonny says, but it’s in a teasing tone and he nudges Rafael as he says it.

Rafael shakes his head. “There’s never been any point.”

Sonny chews his lip. “I’m ready to make my wishes now.”

Rafael nods shortly and turns to face him. “What is your first wish, master?”

Sonny wrinkles his nose at the honorific. “I wish to –” He stops, thinking about his words. He doesn’t want to give Rafael a chance to drop him somewhere even worse than he is now.

“I wish for you to take me to my hometown right now.”

Rafael bows and snaps his fingers. Sonny looks around in amazement. They’re in the market square of the city he grew up in, and it’s bustling with vibrant activity. No one seems to be alarmed at their sudden appearance but he catches the eye of a pretty flower vendor who smiles at him, which means he is at the very least not invisible.

“Sonny?!”

He turns and sees one of his childhood playmates, now all grown up, rushing towards him with a big smile on his face.

“When did you get here? I didn’t see any new ships down at the docks!” Mike clasps a hand on his shoulder and pumps his arm in an enthusiastic handshake.

“Oh, um, yeah, I got in really early this morning,” Sonny bluffs. “Our ship wasn’t sticking around to pick anything up so it uh, must have left right after we disembarked.”

He turns to get fake confirmation from Rafael, but he’s not there. He’s still bound to the lamp in Sonny’s pocket, so he can’t have gone far.

“Well, it’s great to see you, really! I have to go, my dad’s waiting for me down at the fort, but we should catch up!”

“Yeah, yeah, definitely,” Sonny agrees. “I’ll see you around, Mikey.”

Mike takes off down a side street, and Sonny feels a prickle at the base of his neck, a warm gust of wind tickling at the hairs there. He turns and Rafael is standing there, as if he’d never left.

“Did you make yourself invisible?” Sonny asks.

“Yes and no,” Rafael says shortly. “I can choose who to be perceived by. I didn’t think you’d want him asking questions.”

“Oh, right. Good point.”

“Are you ready for your second wish, master?”

“I think so,” Sonny says. “I can wish for something that isn’t immediate, right?”

Rafael purses his lips. “You may wish for things that will not come to pass for some time, but the wish itself will be fulfilled now. You may find yourself regretting it a year from now when it still has not come into fruition.”

Sonny shrugs. “I’ll gamble on it. Good things come to those who wait and all that.”

Rafael stares at him. “It’s no wonder you made such a terrible pirate.” He says, amusement colouring his tone.

Sonny gazes over to the other side of the square, where his father’s stall used to be. He’d only ever taken to sea to earn money for his family, but with his second wish he will be able to fix things and return home to his mother and sisters.

“I want to be taken on as an apprentice to a master woodcarver, whereupon I will successfully complete a training and open my own stall in the market, the result of which will be a steady income for my family.”

Rafael blinks at him. “That was a wish? Are you sure that wasn’t a legal brief?”

Sonny frowns. “You said not to leave any wiggle room.”

Rafael smiles and his teeth are sharp. “You don’t have to try and fit it all into one wish.” He all but purrs. “I’m feeling generous. Make your wish – and remember to say the word – and all you desire will follow in due time.”

“Okay, then.” Sonny tries again. “I wish to be a successful woodcarver.”

Rafael bows. “It is done, master.”

“How will I know when it starts?” Sonny asks. Rafael tilts his chin to point at a burly man in a canvas apron approaching them.

“You there, young man!”

Sonny points to himself. “Me?”

“Yes, you! You look like a strong fellow, and I have need of a new assistant in my woodshop. How would you like to learn a trade?”

Sonny can only nod, unable to pull together words of any meaning.

“Excellent, excellent! Come to my shop first thing in the morning!” The woodcarver exclaims. “Just look for the sign for Bertuccio’s!” He grasps Sonny’s hand and gives it a firm shake before continuing on his way.

Sonny nods again even as the other man walks away.

“You have one wish left, master. Are you ready to make it?”

Rafael is using that same affected bored tone he’d used earlier when he’d first appeared to Sonny, but his eyes are tight and Sonny thinks he looks nervous.

“Yeah, I am.” Sonny draws himself up tall. “Rafael, I wish for you to be free from your bond.”

Rafael stands transfixed as the cuffs on his wrists snap open and fall to the ground, the gleaming metal now dull.

“I didn’t think you’d really do it,” Rafael says, staring at his bare wrists. He runs his finger around one, as if feeling the tender skin there for the first time.

Sonny rubs at his neck. “I keep my word. Like you said, I wasn’t a very good pirate.” He smiles ruefully. “You can travel now.”

Rafael nods absently, still tracing his fingers over his wrists. He looks up at Sonny, gratitude shining wetly in his eyes.

“Thank you, Sonny.”

* * *

_One year later_

The door swings open, letting in a warm gust of wind that sends the wood shavings up around Sonny’s feet.

“We’re closed, you’ll have to come back in the morning!” Sonny calls out from the workroom, not bothering to see who’s entered the shop.

He returns his attention to the tabletop he is polishing. It’s been a busy but fulfilling year since he first began apprenticing with Alphonse Bertuccio. He’s got another year before he’ll be eligible for full guild membership but he’s earning a wage now, and he’s saving up to buy his own stall in the market when he’s ready.

He only looks up when he realizes he hasn’t heard the door open again, and whoever is in the shop has not left.

“Excuse me, I said we’re – Rafael?!” He steps into the front of the shop, shocked to see the genie standing there, rocking back and forth on his feet. He looks nervous.

“I see you’re still working your way through your second wish,” Rafael says, his voice deep with fatigue. He looks around curiously at the bric-a-brac. “Are any of these yours?”

“I mostly do the big furniture pieces,” he gestures to the back room, “but I’ve got a few over here.” He comes out from behind the counter and walks over to a shelf holding an assortment of small casks and other vessels.

Rafael picks one up and admires the form. Sonny blushes when he sees the genie has chosen one that he’d designed based on the oil lamp he’d found a year ago.

“So how was travelling?” Sonny asks.

Rafael puts the carving down and smiles at him. “It was wonderful. I saw many incredible sights. But it was also lonely.”

Sonny wets his lips with his tongue. “You didn’t find anyone to uh, use your sense of touch with?”

Rafael shrugs. “I did. It was pleasant enough.”

“But?” Sonny asks.

“None of them thought to ask what I liked.” Rafael says, his glittering green eyes fixed on Sonny’s. “So I came back to the one who did.”

**Author's Note:**

> If you saw this title and thought wow, is that from late 90's pop hit Genie in a Bottle, you're totally right and I will not be accepting criticism at this time.


End file.
